Afridi to skip the final ODI

Pakistan's flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi has skipped the fifth and final One-day International against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi, scheduled to be held tomorrow and returned home to be with his ailing daughter.

The Pakistan Cricket Board said in a statement that Afridi has been given permission to return home because of the "illness" of his daughter, but reliable sources in the team said that another reason for him to opt out of the last ODI was because Pakistan have already won the series and he wanted the team management to give exposure to the youngsters.

"Afridi felt that youngsters like Anwar Ali and Haris Sohail who are warming the bench in the ongoing one-day series needed to be given some exposure and if he was rested for the final ODI, this could be possible," one source said.

The former captain in the past has always pushed for giving youngsters exposure in matches instead of just taking them on tours and not playing them.

Afridi contributed with bat and ball in Pakistan's One-day series win over the hapless Sri Lankans against whom Mohammad Hafeez has notched up three hundreds. The source said that Afridi had spoken to manager Moin Khan and requested to be released before the final one-dayer so that he could return to Karachi to be with his daughter.

Pakistan have taken an unassailable 3-1 lead in the 5-match ODI series over Sri Lanka.